SNOHOMISH, Wash. -- A community in mourning came together to pay tribute to the nine skydivers and the pilot who died when their plane crashed in the Cascades on Oct. 7.

The Cessna Caravan 208 crashed into thick timber at 4,300 feet, about 45 miles west of Yakima near the Goat Rocks Wilderness Area during a flight from Star, Idaho, near Boise, to Shelton, Wash.

Mourners who gathered at the public memorial remembered those lives as "our 10." They were a group of skydivers who thrived on adventure and never backed down from a challenge.

"Every one of them. They loved their lives," said Elaine Harvey of Skydive Snohomish.

The killed individuals were Ralph Abdo, Landon Atkin, Casey Craig, Cecil Elsner, Bryan Jones, Phil Kibler, Holly Rasberry, Jeff Ross, Michelle Barker and Andy Smith.

"Nothing held them back form enjoying their passions in life. That's something we can do a little bit more of,"

Ralph Abdo, 27, was a thrill-seeker with a competitive sport.

"Ralph was energy. He couldn't sit still in a room like this," said Nadim Abdo, his brother.

Landon Atkin, 20, always put his family first .

"He was someone who went to dinner with his father once a month just to catch up and who would kiss his mother before he left for the night," said Taisha Atkin, his sister.

A preliminary report issued by the National Transportation Safety Board report said the plane flew through low clouds and turbulence, but investigators say it will be months before they determine the exact cause.

"I think it's going to take people a long time to process what happened," said Rick Stewart of Skydive Idaho.

Weather conditions were amenable for visual flight rules along the route, according to the report. The exception was in the Cascade Mountains, where the pilot could have had to fly using only his instruments.

The skydivers were affiliated with Skydive Snohomish, a company that operates a training school and skydiving flights at Harvey Field in Snohomish County, about 20 miles north of Seattle.

- Ralph Abdo, 27, of Issaquah, Wash., was a program manager at Microsoft, where he worked for the past seven years, but he thrived on extreme sports.

"He would not do wind surfing casually like most people do," recalled his girlfriend, Diana Antczak. "He took it up and had to do freestyle moves and front loops, back loops."

His older brother, Nadim, said Abdo was not satisfied with the wind-surfing boards available on the market so he learned to work with fiberglass and started making his own.

He took up skydiving this past winter.

- Landon Atkin, 20, of Snohomish, Wash., took up skydiving last year, "did it once and got hooked," said Mitch Sieber, a friend since kindergarten.

He played drums in a pop-punk band, Rumor Has It, and loved to be on stage and was also known for his enthusiasm as a friend, Sieber said.

"Everyone loved Landon the minute they met him," Sieber said. "He was the most outgoing friend I had."

He was a graduate of Snohomish High School and was attending Cascadia Community College in Bothell. He worked as a parachute packer at Harvey Field in Snohomish. He aspired to be a skydiving instructor.

"He definitely lived life to the fullest and loved the skies," said Staci Boyd, another friend since kindergarten.

- Michelle Barker, 22, of Kirkland, Wash., announced just after her 18th birthday that she was going to go skydiving.

"We all went out and watched her do that, but we didn't know how much it was going to take over her life," said her stepfather, Rich Williams. "After that, she was either at work or the jump zone."

The Boise, Idaho, native moved to the Seattle area in April so she could get more skydiving experience. Williams guessed she had made about 50 jumps.

"If she got it in her mind that she was going to do something," Williams said. "There was no stopping her."

A graduate of Centennial High School in Boise, Barker was remembered by her high school counselor as a good student and an all-American girl.

"She was always, always the very adventurous type," Carol Joplin said. "She wanted to have as many adventures as she could."

- Casey Craig, 30, of Bothell, Wash., was a veteran of more than 600 jumps, introduced to the sport by his older brother, Kelly.

The last family photo of Craig and his siblings was taken two weeks ago at 13,000 feet. His sister, Ivy Green, said he wanted to make the most of the last nice day of the year.

"I want to make sure people know he didn't die skydiving - it was a plane crash," said his mother, Wanda Craig.

Ryan Shipley, a Lake Stevens, Wash., skydiver, said Craig was a social magnet, hosting "Wine Wednesdays" every week at his Bothell home. He had already mailed out invitations for a Halloween party, Shipley said.

Craig worked for the family business installing and cleaning carpet and upholstery.

- Cecil Elsner, 20, of Lake Stevens, loved skydiving so much that he even packed a parachute when he was skiing, his other passion.

At Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia last winter, Elsner used his 'chute to fly - literally - off cliffs, said Mike Tracy, who helped run the Elsner family business, Mount Pilchuck Ski & Sport.

As a teen, he would sneak out during work breaks to take skydiving lessons. Once, he was blown off course during a dive and hours passed before he returned - embarrassed but glad to be alive.

On his MySpace Web page, the Western Washington University student described skydiving as an enlightening escape from a world of turmoil and traffic jams.

"You see the slightest curve of this massive globe looking off into the horizon and get some sense of your place in it all," he wrote.

- Bryan Jones, 34, of Redmond, Wash., was considered a human, quiet, even shy guy on the job for the past seven years at Microsoft, but after work he hopped on his motorcycle to head to Harvey Field to skydive.

"He was pretty dedicated," said Shawn Starr, a Skydive Snohomish instructor. "He would sit in traffic for hours just to make one jump at sunset."

He had made more than 1,000 jumps and helped lead the Seattle Skydivers club. He recently began "canopy piloting," a more specialized skydiving sport, said skydiver Dave Correia.

"He knew what he was doing and he did it well," said Ryan Shipley, another skydiver and friend.

- Phil Kibler, 46, of Troy, N.Y., and Snohomish, the pilot of the aircraft, was making his last flight of the season before heading home to the East Coast to be with family.

The 10-year veteran pilot had biked through Ireland, spent six weeks in Africa and traveled to Australia and rugged Baffin Island, on the Arctic edge of northern Canada.

Kibler had agreed to take the group of friends to a weekend skydiving event in Boise before traveling to New York on a cross-country fly fishing trip.

Before moving to Snohomish County, Kibler left a pharmaceutical job in Montreal for the chance to be a pilot, his brother said. He had a doctoral degree in microbiology and his scientific background led him to pilot whale researchers over the Atlantic Ocean.

The single man spent this past summer working for Skydive Snohomish, piloting flights from Harvey Field in Snohomish.

Bill Kibler said his older brother led a very lucky life.

"My brother was able to do what he absolutely loved doing," he said. "Not a lot of people get that opportunity."

- Hollie Rasberry, 24, of Bellingham, Wash., fell in love with skydiving after trying it a year ago, said Kristy Knopp, the owner of the restaurant where she worked. She also was pursuing a degree at Whatcom Community College.

"She picked up every extra shift she could just so she could go sky diving because it was so expensive," Knopp said.

Knopp said Rasberry became hooked on skydiving after trying it while on vacation in Las Vegas.

"Everything she did, she did it 100 percent. She was a really fun person; a very loving person," Knopp said.

- Jeff Ross, 28, of Snohomish, had only been skydiving for a year, but was already working at Skydive Snohomish, packing parachutes to supplement his income as a shift manager at a pharmacy. He wanted to be a skydiving instructor.

On windy days, he helped jumpers collapse their parachutes as they landed so they wouldn't be dragged across the ground.

"I definitely trusted him when he was out there," said skydiving instructor Shawn Starr. "I knew he'd be out there to catch me."

On his MySpace page, Ross lamented the shortage of pirates in the world.

- Andrew Smith, 20, of Lake Stevens, said his favorite superhero was Superman, because he could fly.

When he boarded the airplane with his friends Sunday afternoon, his girlfriend asked him not to go. Julianne Hezlep said he sent her a text message form the airplane.

"It said he will love me until the end of the world. I will keep that forever," she said.

He was working and training to become an engineer on a ferry between Seattle and Victoria, British Columbia.

During the weekend trip to Idaho, he visited Hezlep at Northwest Nazarene College in Nampa. She spend the weekend hanging out and enjoying a campfire with Smith and his skydiving friends.

"They died doing what they loved," she said. "The all had smiles on their faces. They were happy and we need to be happy that they were happy."

Donation information:

A fund has been set up to aid the families of the killed victims. Those who wish to donate can do so online using a PayPal account by e-mailing 10foreverflying@gmail.com or by sending a check to:

Skydive Snohomish
N430A Family Fund
9912 Airport Way
Snohomish, WA 98296